The End Of The Cold War

Question 1

When were the Helsinki accords (agreements)?

Answer 1

1975

Question 2

What were the Helsinki accords?

Answer 2

In 1973, 33 nations from NATO and the Warsaw Pact met to build on the spirit of co-operation which had been established in SALT 1. In August 1975, an announcement was made to say agreement had been reached ni three areas, which the conference organisers described as ‘baskets’.

Question 3

What was Basket 1 from the Helsinki accords?

Answer 3

European Borders:
Borders are inviolable and cannot be altered by force (first time East and West Germany borders were formally accepted by all countries)

Question 4

What was Basket 2 from the Helsinki accords?

Answer 4

International co-operation:
Both sides ( USA and USSR) agreed to work for closer relations. This would include trade agreements, exchanging ideas about technology and working on a joint space mission.

Question 5

What was Basket 3 from the Helsinki accords?

Answer 5

Human rights:
Both sides would respect human rights such as free speech, religion and free movement across europe.

Question 6

What did the USA get out of the Helsinki accords?

Answer 6

What the USA wanted was an extension of human rights into Soviet-controlled territories, which would undermine communist authority and weaken the power of the Soviet Union. So while the Americans were pleased with Basket 3 ,the Soviets were concerned that organisations would be set up to monitor Soviet policies in its satellite states.

Question 7

What did the Soviet Union get out of the Helsinki accords?

Answer 7

What Brezhnev wanted from the agreements was recognition of existing borders and an opportunity to boost the Soviet economy.

Question 8

Consequence of Basket 2 (International Co-operation)

Answer 8

A Soviet-American team went on a space mission named Apollo-Soyuz in 1975.

Question 9

When was the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan?

Answer 9

1979

Question 10

Why was the Soviet Union interested in Afghanistan?

Answer 10

I 1979, a revolution in Iran deposed the Shah (Emperor). He was replaced by a Muslim fundamentalist government. Afghanistan now. formed an important buffer between Iran and the Soviet Union. Moscow was determined not to let Muslim fundamentalism spread across its borders because the Soviet Union had many Muslim citizens. To protect Soviet interests, it was important to ensure that there was a pro-Soviet government in Afghanistan.

Question 11

Build up to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

Answer 11

In April 1978, a pro-Soviet government took control in Afghanistan and received economic assistance from Moscow. It was toppled in September 1979 when Hafizullah Amin staged a popular coup. At first, Moscow supported Amin, but his government became increasingly unpopular as other pro-Muslim factions tried to overthrow him. When Brezhnev heard rumours that Amin was talking to the USA about possible American support, he decided to act.

Question 12

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

Answer 12

On 24 December 1979, Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan. They claimed that they had been invited in by Amin to support his government against terrorists. However, Amin was assassinated on 27 December (almost certainly by Soviet commandos) and replaced by the pro-Soviet Babrak Kamal.

Question 13

American reaction to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

Answer 13

The Americans believed this was an example of the Soviet Union attempting to spread communism abroad, which they had worked to resist.
President Carter claimed that this was the biggest threat to world peace since WW2
Carter Doctrine announced
Began sending weapons and funds to the mujahideen

Question 14

What was the Carter Doctrine?

Answer 14

It said that the USA would repel by force, if necessary, any threat to American interests in the Persian Gulf.

Question 15

Impact of the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan on USA-Soviet relations

Answer 15

Ended Détente
Brought about the election of US president who believed communism was evil and should be actively opposed
Made relations more confrontational

Question 16

Consequences of the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

Answer 16

End of Détente
Carter Doctrine
USA supply Mujahideen with weapons and money
SALT 2 abandoned
US boycott of Moscow olympics
Soviet Boycott of LA olympics

Question 17

What were the four main components of Gorbachev’s new thinking?

Answer 17

Dropping the Brezhnev doctrine
Perestroika
Glastnost
The Soviet Union would reduce spending on arms and defence and withdraw from Afghanistan

Question 18

What was Perestroika?

Answer 18

The idea that the Russian economy should be reformed to include some of the practices that made capitalism successful.

Question 19

What was Glastnost?

Answer 19

There should be more transparency amd less corruption in government.
People should not need to fear the state or fear expressing their opinions

Question 20

What would it mean to drop the Brezhnev doctrine?

Answer 20

The Soviet Union would no longer get involved in the domestic affairs of other communist countries.

Question 21

American response to Gorbachev’s new thinking?

Answer 21

When Gorbachev became Soviet leader in 1985, relations between the USA and the Soviet
Union changed. Here was a Soviet leader who was not looking to expand communism, but instead, was determined to reform the Soviet Union from the inside, and moreover to work with the USA to reduce Cold War tensions.

Question 22

Name two summit meetings between US and Soviet Leaders in the 1980s

Answer 22

Geneva Summit
Malta Summit

Question 23

What were the intentions of the Summit meetings?

Answer 23

To bring about further limitations on nuclear weapons and too effectively end the cold war.

Question 24

What is the Malta Summit seen as marking?

Answer 24

Marking the end of the cold war

Question 25

Example of a revolution in the Eastern Bloc in 1989

Answer 25

Romania, December 1989
There are demonstrations against the communist government. The communist leader Ceaucescu is overthrown and executed.

Question 26

Who was Mikhail Gorbachev

Answer 26

He became leader of the USSR in March 1985 and was determined to reform communism.

Question 27

Fall of the Berlin Wall (Events in order)

Answer 27

1. In June 1989 the Hungarian government began deconstructing the electric fence and then, 3 moths later in September approximately 13000 tourists escaped through Hungary.
2. The East German government responded by disallowing any travel to Hungary. In response there were demostrations of people wanting to go to the West.
3. This meant that the Hungarians had to prevent more East Germans from crossing the border
4. To ease the difficulaties the Politburo decided to allow East Germans to travel through crossing points between East and West Germany
5. On live tv the spokesperson for East Germany announced that the wall will come down. When asked when he didn’t know and replied now.
6. Immediately East Berliners rushed to the wall and chanted open the gate.
7. Eventually the gate came down

Question 28

Importance of the fall of the Berlin Wall

Answer 28

It showed that even though Soviet governments were falling the Soviet Union was not going to step in. It also symbolised the end of the cold war as throughout the cold war it symbolised the division of Europe.

Question 29

When did the Warsaw Pact end?

Answer 29

The Warsaw pact was formally dissolved in July 1991.

Question 30

The Break up of the Warsaw Pact

Answer 30

Its break up indicated that the division between the democratic west and Communist East was gone. The satellite states regained their independence. They no longer had to follow policies created in Moscow or run their economies to benefit the soviet union.

Question 31

The Warsaw Pact pre 1991

Answer 31

The Warsaw pact had effectively become irrelevant by 1990. The revolutions that Swept the Eastern Bloc in 1989 brought Non- communist governments to power and by 1990 they were not co-operating with each other militarily

Question 32

Perestroika literal meaning

Answer 32

Restructuring

Question 33

Glastnost literal meaning

Answer 33

Openness

Question 34

What does SALT 1 stand for?

Answer 34

Strategic Arms Limitation treaty

Question 35

When was SALT 1 and what did it do?

Answer 35

1972, Superpowers agreed to limit the number of nuclear weapons they had.

Question 36

Key features of SALT 1

Answer 36

-No further production of strategic ballistic weapons (short-range, lightweight missiles).
-No increase in number of intercontinental ballistic weapons (ICBMs) (though new ones could be added to replace old ones).
-No new nuclear missile launchers.
New submarines that could launch nuclear weapons (SLBMs) only allowed as replacements for existing missile launchers.
-The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty limited both sides to two ABM deployment areas.

Question 37

Positives of SALT 1

Answer 37

-Slowed down the arms race by placing limits on the number of bombers, ICBMs and SLBMs each side could have.
-Led to further negotiations that culminated in the SALT 2 Treaty in 1979.
-Ensured that neither side had a decisive advantage in strategic nuclear weapons.

Question 38

Limitations of SALT 1

Answer 38

Did not cover intermediate nuclear weapons, which both sides continued to deploy in Europe during the late 1970s.

Question 39

When was SALT 2?

Answer 39

1979

Question 40

SALT 2: Key features

Answer 40

-Under negotiation since 1972.
-Based on the Vladivostok Accords (1974) - agreements between US and Soviet governments.
-Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and US President Jimmy Carter signed the agreement in Vienna in June 1979.
-Each superpower limited to 2250 warheads. SALT 2 counted warheads while SALT 1 simply counted missiles and bombers.
-Imposed limits on new launch systems including multi-warhead missiles.

Question 41

Why did SALT 2 fail?

Answer 41

• Some West German politicians opposed the treaty, as they feared it weakened the defence of West Germany. They thought that, after the treaty, the USA would be less likely to use its nuclear weapons if West Germany was attacked by the Soviet Union.
• Some US politicians thought the treaty made too many concessions to the Soviet Union.
• US-Soviet relations soured after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. This meant the US Senate never ratified (approved) the treaty, so it never became official US policy.

Question 42

What is Nuclear deterrence (refer to SALT 1 and 2)?

Answer 42

Nuclear deterrence occurs when the possibility of a response with nuclear weapons prevents the other side from acting aggressively.
Salt 1 and 2 reduced the possibility of nuclear war by ensuring that neither side had a first strike capacity (the ability to destroy all the other side’s nuclear weapons in one strike). This made sure a system of nuclear deterrence remained.

Question 43

What were ICBM’s?

Answer 43

Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM’s) were missiles that left the earth’s atmosphere before re-entering it to reach their targets.

Question 44

What were ABM’s

Answer 44

Anti ballistic missiles

Question 45

Reasoning for Reagans’s strategic defence initiative (SDI)

Answer 45

Previously, nuclear strategy was based on MAD - If the USA and Soviet Union would destroy each other (and everyone else) in a nuclear war, it was too risky to start one.
President Reagan wanted to win the Cold War, so he launched SDI, known as ‘Star Wars’, in March 1983.

Question 46

What was Strategic defence initiative (SDI)?

Answer 46

SDI was a plan to have satellites, lasers and mirrors in space that would destroy Soviet intercontinental nuclear missiles before they reached the USA.

Question 47

What was SDI also known as?

Answer 47

Star wars

Question 48

Consequence of SDI on superpower relations

Answer 48

‘Star Wars’ badly damaged East-West relations.
The Soviet Union argued it broke the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and gave the USA a decisive advantage in the arms race.
In December 1983, Soviet negotiators walked out of the arms control talks in Geneva.

Question 49

What was the period of 1979 to 1984 known as?

Answer 49

The second cold war

Question 50

The United States (in the Second Cold War)

Answer 50

-Had recovered after its defeat in the Vietnam War, where it had failed to stop the spread of communism.
-Was beginning to develop information technology, especially computers.
-Was becoming increasingly determined to stop and even roll back communism.
-Was prepared to fund anti-communist forces in Central America and Southern Africa.

Question 51

The Soviet Union (in the Second Cold War)

Answer 51

• Was in decline, with poor living standards.
• Had an ageing leadership. Brezhnev died in 1982 to be replaced by Andropov and then Chernyenko. All three leaders were over 70.
• Had ageing technology in an economy that was only 20 per cent the size of the US economy.
• Was struggling to deal with anti-communist protest in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland where the trade union ‘Solidarity’ was demanding reforms.

Question 52

Reasons for Soviet- US relations decline between 1979 and 1984

Answer 52

• the Olympic boycotts (1980 and 1984)
• the election of President Reagan, who was very anti-communist
• increased military expenditure on missiles and the USA’s Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI); the Soviet Union retaliated but could not keep up with the United States, as its economy was much smaller
• the on-going war following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
• the breakdown of the SALT 2 arms control negotiations
• the shooting down of KALO07 in September 1983.

Question 53

What was the shooting down of KALOO7?

Answer 53

A South Korean airliner, was shot down by Soviet fighters (who claimed it had violated Soviet airspace) amounted to the lowest point of the ‘Second Cold War’.
A number of Americans were killed and the USA roundly condemned the attack.

Question 54

Reagan and the Evil empire

Answer 54

Reagan described the Soviet Union as an Evil empire.
-He kick started the arms race
-Poured money into developing new missile technology
-Computing developed

Question 55

Crisis in the Soviet Union

Answer 55

The Soviet Union could not keep up with the USA.
• Its economy was in poor shape, partly because it spent so much on weapons.
• Living standards were very low right across the Eastern bloc.
• It was bogged down in the war in Afghanistan.
• The Soviet Union did not have the USA’s computing expertise.
• The Soviet Union could not keep pace with the USAs new missile technology.

Question 56

Reagan’s change of attitude

Answer 56

• Public opinion was against the arms race, especially in Europe.
• Gorbachev was popular. There was ‘Gorbymania’ in Western Europe and even in the United States.
• Reagan liked Gorbachev and was prepared to work with him to improve US-Soviet relations. Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister and a close ally of President Reagan, described Gorbachev as a man she could do business with.

Question 57

Significance of Gorbachev and Reagan’s changing attitudes

Answer 57

They represented an easing of Cold War tensions.
Led to greater cooperation between the USA and the Soviet Union.
Led to arms control agreements, the INF Treaty and START I.